Fifth Generation

85. William Jensen Parkinson¹ was born on 14 Feb 1899 in Hyrum, Cache, UT. He died on 1 Feb 1993 in Midvale, Salt Lake, UT. He was buried on 5 Feb 1993 in Midvale, Salt Lake, UT. SOURCE

OBITUARY: paper unknown, Midvale, William (Bill) Jensen Parkinson, age 93,
died at his home in Midvale, 1 Feb 1993. Born 14 Feb 1899 in Hyrum, UT,
to William B. and Caroline A. Jensen Parkinson. Married Venita Fagg in the
Salt Lake LDS Temple, 12 Feb 1937. Bill was a professional artist and a
member of the LDS Church. He served his country during World War One and for
many years studied art at the University of Utah under A.B. Wright. Since
the age of 18, Bill's life has been devoted to painting. He assisted
greatly in the opening of the Springville, UT Art Museum and his works have
been displayed on both a national and international level. Survivors:
son, William Jerry, Los Alamos, NM; daughter, Celia Peterson and husband
Burke, Midvale; three grandchildren, Deborah Hernandez, Stephen Parkinson
and Dirk Peterson; four great grandchildren; ex-wife, Venita; half brother
and sister, Floyd Parkinson, Santa Clara, UT; Peggy Benson, Auburn, CA.
Funeral services Friday, 5 Feb 1993, 11 a.m. in the Midvale 6th LDS Ward
Chapel 425 Jackson St. Friends may call at Goff Mortuary 8090 So. State
Thursday 6-8 p.m. and Friday at the church from 9:45-10:45 a.m. Interment,
Lake Hills Memorial Park.

Salt Lake Tribune, 2 Feb 1993; William J. Parkinson, pioneering Utah
surrealist painter, dies at 94; William Jensen Parkinson, a painter credited
as one of the first surrealist artists to work in Utah, died Monday morning
in Midvale. He was 93. Mr. Parkinson was born 14 Feb 1899 in Hyrum, UT.
According to the Dictionary of Utah Art, he began his formal art training in
1924, as a student of pioneering Utah artist A.B. Wright. Burt Mr. Parkinson
remained largely self-taught. During the Great Depression, Mr. Parkinson
worked for the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program that created
jobs for millions of unemployed. Some of his WPA works now hang in the
Utah State Capitol, Dixie College, the Salt Lake County Commissioners' office
and numerous other government buildings in Utah. During the 40's, he held
down numerous odd jobs, including as an art teacher, engineering aide for
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and as a display artist for ZCMI. He
married Venita Fagg in 1937 in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. They later divorced. Mr. Parkinson was a
pioneer for modern art in Utah. In the late '30s, he and painter/art critic
George Dibble mounted what is believed to be Salt Lake City's first show of
modern artworks. Mr. Dibble, who died last June, once recounted a story
about Mr. Parkinson, when the two were seeking money from the Utah
Legislature for the Salt Lake Art Center. Four legislators were to visit
the center (then housed in the Elks Building) when Mr. Dibble noticed a nude,
painted by Mr. Parkinson, hanging at the top of the stairs. The two artists,
helped by colleague Harry Rasmussen, tried to haul the enormous painting
away when the lawmakers arrived. Since they could not conceal the painting,
the artists began talking about how beautiful it was. The legislators
apparently agreed, and the center got its funds. Mr. Parkinson, along with
Mr. Dibble, Mr. Rasmussen, and others, wrote and signed a manifesto for
modern art in 1942. Mr. Parkinson was also one of the first artists to
display at the Salt Lake Art Center and the Springville Museum of Art.
His work has been displayed extensively across the state over the past
half-century. His last show was mounted in early 1992 at the Art Access
Gallery in Salt Lake City. Survivors include his ex-wife, two children-
William in Los Alamos, NM and Celia in Midvale, three grandchildren and
four great grandchildren. No cause of death was given. Services are
pending.

William Jensen Parkinson and Fern Venita Fagg were married on 12 Feb 1937. Fern Venita Fagg.¹